


Get Over It

by danrdarrenc



Series: Transferred from Fanfiction.net [16]
Category: As the World Turns
Genre: M/M, Noah is pretty much a closeted douche in this, This is not Noah friendly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-16
Updated: 2011-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:55:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 17,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27008440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danrdarrenc/pseuds/danrdarrenc
Summary: Luke and Reid deal with a problem their 16-year old daughter seems to be having and come across an old acquaintance.
Relationships: Luke Snyder/Noah Mayer (past), Reid Oliver/Luke Snyder
Series: Transferred from Fanfiction.net [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1959493
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

Luke Snyder was sitting on the couch in his apartment, files on different organizations to which he was considering donating money laying out on the coffee table in front of him. Not accomplishing a decision, Luke unceremoniously dropped his pen onto the table, sat back on the couch, and rubbed his eyes. He then grabbed the remote and was about to turn on the TV when the door opened and in walked his sixteen-year old daughter. She slammed the door behind her and walked right past Luke.

"Julie!" Luke said, putting the down the remote and standing up. "Something wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Julie said, continuing to walk straight to her room and slamming her door.

Luke furrowed his brow, walked to his daughter's room, and knocked. In response, he got a "Go away!"

Having had enough experience with his little sisters, Luke knew defeat and went back to his work, hoping that Julie would take it upon herself to come out of her room and talk to him.

Two hours later, however, when Reid Oliver walked in the door, Julie was still holed up in her bedroom.

"Hi," Luke said to the doctor, who dropped his medical bag and keys on the coffee table.

"Dinner smells _amazing_ ," Reid said, walking into the kitchen and kissing Luke.

"Well, you'll have to call Emma and tell her. She dropped it off earlier," Luke said, pulling dishes out of the cabinets and setting the table.

"I might just do that," Reid said, about to pick up a cookie when Luke swatted at his hand.

"Wait until after dinner," Luke said, pouting.

"You're adorable when you're pretending to be angry," Reid said, smirking and picking up the cookie anyway. Luke smiled.

"Where's Julie?" Reid asked, through a mouthful of crumbs.

Luke's smile faded. "She's in her room. She's been in there since she got home from school. She's upset."

"What's wrong?"

Luke shook his head. "She won't tell me. I didn't want to push her. Having once been an angst-ridden sixteen-year old, I knew it would only make things worse if I attempted to pry it out of her."

"So you have no idea what happened?" Reid asked, sitting down on the couch.

"It has to be school, I think," Luke said, sitting down next to his husband.

"So what do we do?" Reid looked at Luke.

Luke grabbed Reid's hand, dragged him over to Julie's door, and once again knocked on her door.

"Go away, Dad," Julie said from the other side.

Luke looked at Reid who gently opened the door.

"Can we come in?" Reid asked.

"No! Go away!" Julie shouted at them, burying her head under her pillows.

Reid, ever uncomfortable in situations involving children, began to back away, but Luke tightened his grip on the doctor's hand and pulled him into the room.

"Julie," Luke said quietly, sitting down on her bed, Reid pulling her desk chair over to the bed and sitting down. "We just want to know what's wrong. It's not like you to be this angry."

"I don't want to talk about it," Julie said, her voice muffled by the pillows.

"Maybe we can help," Luke said.

"No you can't!" Julie said indignantly.

Determined to find out what was going on with his daughter, Luke gently pried the pillow out of Julie's arms and off of her face.

"You've been crying," Reid said.

"You're so observant," Julie sniped, turning over onto her face.

"Hey!" Luke said. "Don't talk your father like that!"

"Why not? It's all his fault!" Julie sobbed.

Luke furrowed his brow in confusion and looked at Reid who was paler than a ghost.

"What do mean it's his fault?"

"It's because of him that I can't date Jacob!" Julie sobbed, louder and harder than before.

Surprised, confused, and seeing that there was no point in continuing the conversation, Luke stood up and gestured to Reid to follow him out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke closed the door behind him and followed Reid into the living room. Luke sat down on the couch next to the doctor.

"Do you have any idea what she's talking about?" Luke asked.

"Of course not!" Reid said, a little too forcefully. "Did you know she was dating someone?"

Luke shook his head. "Has she ever mentioned a Jacob to you?"

"You talk to her more about these things than I do. She's never mentioned him to you? Unless she's talking about Katie's son?"

"No. I don't think she's talking about Jacob Snyder. He's almost eight years older than her. He's off finishing college in New York. Plus, Jacob likes you, 'Uncle Reid' and Katie certainly wouldn't have a problem with them dating. I think this a Jacob in her class at Oakdale High," Luke said, running his hands through his hair.

"Do you know anyone we can ask?" Reid asked the blonde.

"I know a few people on the Board of Trustees, but no one who would know the kids in the classes. And there's probably a bunch of Jacobs that go to the school," Luke said.

"I guess she's not eating with us," Reid said.

Luke burst out laughing. "Only you, Reid, would be concerned more about food than your daughter."

"I'm hungry," Reid said guiltily.

"Alright. Let's eat and give Julie some time. After dinner I'll try and pry some information out of her."

An hour later, Luke and Reid were entwined on the couch watching the news when they heard Julie's door open and her footsteps padding into the room.

The two men extricated themselves from each other as their daughter sat down in the chair opposite them. The three sat staring at each other for a few minutes and then Julie said, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Do you want to tell us what's going on?" Luke asked.

"I can leave," Reid said hopefully, but Luke put his hand on the doctor's leg, keeping him planted on the couch.

"No, it's okay, Daddy. I'm sorry about what I said before."

"What's going on, Julie?" Luke asked again. "Who's Jacob?"

Julie opened her mouth to speak, but closed it without saying anything. She was quiet for a minute and then said, "He's my boyfriend…or at least he was until today."

"How long has this been going on?" Reid asked, the idea of Julie having a boyfriend affecting him more than he'd like.

"About a month."

"And when were you going to tell us?" Luke asked, disappointed in his daughter for having kept it a secret.

Julie shrugged and said, "When I was ready."

Luke furrowed his brow and gave Reid's leg a tiny squeeze to stave off the comment he knew was coming.

"What happened, Julie?" Luke asked.

"He broke up with me today," Julie said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Did he say why?"

"He said that his dad didn't want him to see me."

"Why?" Reid asked.

"Well, because…because of you," Julie said, not looking at Reid.

"He actually said that? That his dad didn't want Jacob to see you because of Reid?" Luke asked, confused.

"Does Chris Hughes have a son I don't know about?" Reid said, trying to lessen the tension.

Julie smiled slightly as Luke attempted not to laugh.

"No. Chris Hughes isn't his dad."

"What's Jacob's last name, Julie?" Luke asked.

"Mayer."

"I'm sorry?" Reid asked.

"Mayer. He's Jacob Mayer. His dad is Noah Mayer."


	3. Chapter 3

There was silence for a minute and then Luke, who was white as a sheet, said, "You're sure his dad's name is Noah Mayer?"

Julie nodded, her sorrow now overcome with curiosity at the looks on her father's faces.

"Do you know him?" Julie asked, looking back and forth between Luke and Reid.

Luke looked at Reid who nodded at the younger man in encouragement. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and said, "Julie, we haven't been entirely honest with you about how we met."

"You and Daddy? You mean you didn't actually bring Daddy here for an ex-boyfriend?"

"That is true," Luke said.

"Except it was blackmail and kidnapping," Reid intervened and Luke smacked his leg.

"What?" Julie looked horrified.

"I did blackmail, Reid. But I didn't kidnap him." Luke scowled at the doctor. "We never told you the name of my ex-boyfriend. His name was…Noah Mayer."

"You mean…?" Julie said slowly.

"It seems like an awful coincidence if he's not the same person."

"But he's married…to a woman," Julie said.

"Yeah, well, that doesn't surprise me," Luke mumbled.

"What?"

Luke cleared his throat and answered his daughter, "Noah was never comfortable with being gay. It's too long a story to tell you now, but I think he preferred being with a girl than being with me."

Julie looked confused, so Luke divulged further into their story. "When I first met Noah, we started dating my best friend – who was a girl. Her name was Maddie. At some point, Noah realized he had feelings for me, but he was never comfortable with them. Even when we were dating for nearly three years, he never seemed to be whole invested in our relationship."

"But he said Jacob couldn't see me because of Daddy," Julie said.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't particularly like me," Reid said.

"Why?"

Reid and Luke looked at each other. Reid said, "He seemed to think that I stole Luke from him."

"But Noah and I had broken up long before your dad and I got together," Luke clarified. "Noah never seemed to remember that. And I really didn't think his resentment would last over twenty years."

"Especially since the last time we saw him, he was moving to LA," Reid said.

"Which makes me want to know when he moved back to Oakdale and never contacted me," Luke said, anger boiling up inside of him.

Reid took Luke's hand to calm him down and keep him focused.

"Dad, you said that Noah didn't really love you. So why would he care if you were going out with Daddy?"

"He did love me, Julie. And I do believe he would have spent his life with me if Reid hadn't gotten in the way, but I don't believe that he ever wholly and truly as content to be with me as he always seemed to be with Maddie."

"Why?" Julie asked.

"Because of his father," Luke said. "And that's what really angers me about this situation. He's doing to his son what he most hated about his father."

Julie looked at him confusedly.

"Telling him who is or isn't allowed to date," Luke said. "When the Colonel – Noah's father – found out about us, he fought Heaven and Hell to keep us apart. Noah used to say that he would _never_ do to his children what his father did to him. I guess that was until he found someone he hated as much as the Colonel hated me."

Reid gripped Luke's hand tighter and kissed him gently on his temple. Luke closed his eyes at Reid's touch and clenched his teeth.

"Don't worry, Julie. We'll sort this out," Reid said. "Why don't you go do your homework?"

Julie nodded and stood up, hugging Luke tightly before going to her room.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you alright?" Reid asked Luke as Julie's door closed behind them.

"No," Luke pouted. "When the hell did Noah come back to Oakdale? And with a family? How have we not seen him? As you every so often remind me, it's not a big town. We should have bumped into them at some point in time."

"Maybe he's learned to become invisible," Reid said, the ends of his mouth twitching.

Luke smiled. "Or he's gotten really good at avoiding us."

"That too," Reid said, draping an arm around Luke's shoulders. Luke dropped his head onto Reid's shoulder.

"We have to find him," Luke said.

"Do we have to?"

"Yes. We have to talk to him." Reid groaned. "Look, I'm not excited about it either. I haven't spoken to him since before Julie was born and that wasn't a pleasant conversation. But we have to work this out for Julie."

"Do you really want her dating Noah's kid?" Reid asked. "It's not like she's in love with him. They've been going out for a month."

"Noah and I were only dating a month before I told I told him I loved him," Luke said absentmindedly.

Reid looked down at him. "But you knew him longer than that."

"Only about five months. Julie's probably known Jacob for a couple years. If they're in the same grade and Noah's been living here a while, then they would have known each other at least since they started high school," Luke said.

Reid and Luke were both quiet for a while, watching the news. Then Reid said, "You really want to find Noah, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. Not for me, but for Julie," Luke said, looking at Reid. "This thing that he had against you. It's gone on _way_ too long, Reid. What happened between the three of us happened over twenty years ago. He can't possibly still have a grudge against you. We need to settle this once and for all. If not for our sakes, then for Julie's and Jacob's."

Reid was quiet for a minute and then said, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Where?" Luke asked, confused.

"To wherever Noah is."

Luke looked at the doctor, but didn't say anything. He was thinking about whether or not it would be more effective if Reid was there.

"Yes. This isn't just about me and him, or you and him. This is ultimately about Julie and we are both her parents. So we need to confront Noah together."

Reid nodded and kissed the top of Luke's head. "Just let me know when you want to go."

"Actually, I'm going to find out where he lives right now," Luke said, disentwining himself from Reid and grabbing his cell phone off of the coffee table.

"How?"

"Blackmail and kidnapping, obviously," Luke smirked. Reid smiled as Luke dialed a telephone number.

"Casey? It's Luke. Sorry to bother you so late, but I was wondering if I could talk to Alison. Is she there? Thanks," Luke said, leaning back against Reid's shoulder. "Hi, Alison. I know this is going to sound weird. But I was wondering if you had Noah's address. It's a long story for now, but I need to get in touch with him. Yeah, everything's fine. Just something that was never resolved between us and is coming back to haunt us." Luke paused while Alison got the address for him. "So he is in Oakdale, then?" Luke said, clearly responding to the address Alison told him. "Thanks, again, Ali. I really appreciate it. Say hello to Bobby for me. Good night." Luke hung up the phone.

"He's in Oakdale?" Reid asked, once again draping his arm around Luke's shoulders.

"Yep. He lives on the other side of town, almost in Salem. Which means that's where he probably spends most of time. Where he eats, shops, and does whatever he does. So that he can avoid us."

"But then why would he live here in Oakdale? Why wouldn't he just live in Salem?"

"Because he's Noah. Oakdale was the first the place he really felt like he had a home, so he probably wanted to bring his family here."

"But at the same time he wanted to avoid us," Reid said.

"Exactly. So he found a place on the edge of town where he could go between Oakdale and Salem very easily. Too bad he won't be able to avoid us anymore," Luke said, grinning and looking at Reid. "We bring him face to face with his past tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

Saturday morning, Luke woke up with his head on Reid's chest and his arm draped over the doctor's waist. Reid looked like he was still sleeping, so Luke carefully slid up higher on the bed so that he could trail kisses down Reid's neck.

An "hmmm" escaped Reid as he enveloped Luke in his arms, his eyes still closed. Luke smiled and kissed Reid's lips.

"Morning," Luke said, as Reid sleepily opened his eyes.

"Morning," Reid said, smiling slightly. "What do you want to today? What's Julie doing today?"

"You forgot," Luke said.

"Forgot what?" Reid asked, making it obvious that he forgot what they were supposed to be doing today.

"We're going to talk to Noah today," Luke said.

"Right," Reid said unenthusiastically. "Is Julie coming with us?"

"No. She has plans with friends. Something about going shopping and going to the movies."

"Is she awake yet?" Reid asked, running his fingers through his hair and sitting up.

"I don't think so," Luke said, sitting up also, wrapping his arms around Reid's waist and putting his chin on the doctor's shoulder.

"Well, maybe food will wake her up," Reid said. Luke chuckled and followed Reid out of bed and into the kitchen.

Fifteen minutes later as Luke and Reid were about to sit down with their eggs and bacon, Julie padded out of her room in pajamas with bunny rabbits on them and matching bunny slippers.

"Hi," Julie said, sitting down at the table, Luke placing a plate of eggs in front of her and kissing the top of her head. "Thanks, Dad."

"How are you feeling?" Luke asked, sitting back down next to Reid.

"Okay if I don't think about Jacob," Julie said, slowly eating her eggs.

"So, listen, we were planning on going to see Noah today," Reid said. Julie's eyes widened in surprise.

"Do you want me to come?"

"No," Luke said. "You have plans with your friends. We need to resolve our issues with Noah. We won't be able to do that with you there."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Reid said.

"Can you just promise me something?" Julie asked, putting her plate in the dishwasher.

"What?"

"Please don't get Jacob in trouble."

"We'll try," Luke said.

"Thanks," Julie said, giving both Luke and Reid a hug. "I'm going to take a shower and then I'm going to go to see Grandma and Grandpa. I promised her I'd visit her before I went out with my friends."

An hour later, Julie was off to the farm where Lily and Holden now lived and Luke was waiting for Reid to finish getting ready.

"Reid, are you ready yet?" Luke called impatiently. Even after twenty years of being together, Luke was still irritated when Reid took too long to decide which of his five non-scrub shirts he was going to wear.

"I'm coming. I'm coming," Reid said, coming into the living room from the bedroom.

"Finally," Luke said, jumping off of the couch and grabbing his keys from the table. "Ready to do this?"

"As ready as you are," Reid said, taking Luke's hand and pulling him out of the apartment.


	6. Chapter 6

When they were five minutes from reaching Noah's house, Reid suddenly asked, "Isn't it kind of rude to just drop by his house without calling first?"

Luke burst out laughing. "Since when do you care about being rude? Especially to Noah? Dr. Oliver, has life with me softened you up? Or are you just trying to get out of doing this?"

"Both?" Reid responded innocently and giving Luke a Cheshire grin.

"Too late. We're here. It's time Noah gets a piece of my mind," Luke said, parking the car and getting out, followed reluctantly by Reid.

Luke started walking towards the house, but realized that Reid was still standing by the car, so he walked back to the doctor and gave him an irresistible pout.

"The sooner we go in, the sooner it will be over," Luke said, taking Reid's hand.

Reid groaned but followed Luke to the door of the house. Luke rang the doorbell, his hand gripping Reid's tightly to make sure he didn't escape. There was no answer.

"Maybe they're not home," Reid said hopefully. A second later, the door opened and Luke and Reid were faced with a pretty, dark-haired women who could only be Noah's wife.

"Can I help you?"

"Are you Mrs. Mayer?"

"Yes, I'm Megan Mayer," the woman answered warily.

"Hi, we're sorry to bother you on Saturday, but we were wondering if we could talk to Noah?" Luke asked sweetly.

"Megan, who's at the door?" said a very familiar voice, and then suddenly Noah was standing in the doorway directly opposite Luke and Reid.

"Hello, Noah," Luke said, viciously sweet and giving him a dazzling smile. "Do you think you have time to talk to a couple of old friends?" Luke raised his eyebrows in the sarcastic attitude Reid loved so much. Noah's face went white, his wife looking confusedly between the three men.

"Noah? Do you know these men?"

Noah nodded slowly, still white as a sheet.

"Well, come on in, then!" Megan said, stepping aside to let Luke and Reid in. Noah remained standing stock still by the doorway until his wife said, "Noah, don't you want to show around your friends?"

Noah walked zombie-like into the living room where Luke and Reid were now sitting on the couch, hand-in-hand, Luke smiling evilly at Noah.

"Megan, can you leave us alone?" Noah asked, somewhat unkindly.

Surprised and confused, Megan said, "Sure. I have some errands to run." She grabbed a jacket and her keys and left the house.

"What's wrong, Noah? You look like you've seen a ghost," Luke said, smirking.

"How did you find me?" Noah asked, still standing stiff as a board.

"Actually, I think it's us who will be asking the questions before we answer _any_ of yours," Luke said, releasing Reid's hand and standing up to face Noah. "My first question is when and why the hell did you move back to Oakdale if you're so intent on avoiding us? My second question is why the hell are you married to a woman? And, most importantly, Noah, why are you doing to your son what your father did to you!" Luke stopped speaking, breathing heavily, suddenly becoming aware of Reid's arm around his waist. He had stood up while Luke had been yelling to keep the blonde from attacking Noah.

Noah stood glaring at the couple without saying anything.

"Answer him!" Reid said.

"Don't you tell me what to do in my house, Dr. Oliver!" Noah said angrily.

"Answer me, Noah!" Luke shouted.

"No! You can't come barging into my house uninvited and expect me to answer to you!" Noah shouted back.

"Why not?" Luke said, his voice jumping an octave. "You chose to end this, not me!"

"Really?" Noah shouted. "That's not how I remember it! I remember you breaking up with me to be with him." Noah pointed violently at Reid who had attempted to melt into the wall as Luke and Noah went at each other.

"I did not break up with you to be with Reid, Noah! We broke up long before I started dating Reid. And you had, for all intents and purposes, broken up with me the second you woke up from your accident and couldn't see!" Luke shouted, angry tears forming from the unresolved issues that had been pent up for twenty years. "You didn't want to be with me because you blamed me for your blindness! No matter what I did for you, you didn't want me anywhere near you! That's why I broke up with you, Noah. Because you didn't want to be with me anymore and you were just too cowardly to break up with me yourself!" Luke stopped shouting, breathing as if he had run a marathon.

" _He_ told me I couldn't be with you!" Noah said, again pointing at Reid.

"That is not true!" Reid said, entering the conversation for the first time. "I told you to keep Luke out of my orbit when you were at the hospital. I never said you couldn't be together when I wasn't around! You took it upon yourself to believe that's what I said."

"Don't you dare blame Reid for what happened between me and you, Noah!" Luke said, defending his lover. "You were drifting away from me long before Reid was even a thought in my mind! And, in case you've forgotten, it was _you_ , Noah, who wanted Dr. Oliver to fix you! You researched him at the clinic and _you_ asked _me_ to contact him."

"I wouldn't have done that if I knew he was going to seduce you away from me!"

"Don't you _dare_!" Luke said dangerously quiet, stepping closer to Noah. "Don't you _ever_ blame Reid for _anything_ that happened between you and me. I wanted us all to get along, Noah. It was _you_ who refused to make things work between us. You chose to be an ass and throw away our friendship because you were too ungrateful to appreciate what Reid had done for you."

"What _Reid_ had done for me? You mean stealing you?" Noah retorted viciously, taking a step towards Luke.

Luke threw his arms up in disgust while Reid shook his head in disbelief.

"No, Noah. I mean making you see again," Luke said, nearly poking Noah in the chest. "In case you've forgotten, you were blind at one point in your life and it's _only_ because of Reid that you've been walking around for the last twenty years with your sight!"

When Noah didn't respond, Luke continued, albeit more restrainedly. "How have you always failed to remember that?"

"Because he took away the one thing I wanted most in the world," Noah said, no longer yelling.

Luke was silent for a minute and then said calmly, "If I really believed that, Noah, I wouldn't be so angry about your resentment toward Reid."

"What do you mean 'if you believed that'?"

"I was with you every step of the way throughout your injury. I went against my better judgment and blackmailed Dr. Oliver for you and then I did everything in my power to keep him here. I get that what you were going through was difficult. I really do, because, although, you don't seem to remember it, I was paralyzed once and had to adjust to that just as much as you had to adjust to being blind." Noah's face went pale again, but he didn't say anything. "But when you got your sight back, I was ready to pick up right where we left off."

"Really? Because I seem to remember finding you making out with my doctor," Noah said, his teeth clenched.

"I wanted to get back together with you, Noah," Luke said, ignoring Noah's truthful statement. "You chose to throw me away like last week's garbage."

"Noah, you're not going to win this. You know that whatever happened between you and Luke was your fault, not mine or Luke's," Reid said, putting his hands on Luke's shoulders.

"Shut up! I really don't care about anything you have to say," Noah yelled, gesturing wildly at the doctor.

A split second later, Luke's hand connected with Noah's face so hard that the taller man lost his balance.

"DON'T YOU EVER TALK TO MY HUSBAND LIKE THAT, NOAH MAYER! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT, YOU UNGRATEFUL, UNAPPRECIATIVE, SELFISH, JUDGMENTAL ASS!"

Noah held his face in pain, his eyes wide in surprise, while Reid looked at Luke like he just fell in love with him all over again, his hands still on the younger man's shoulders.

"What happened to you, Noah?" Luke asked in barely a whisper. "You've become exactly what you said you never wanted to be."

"Yeah? What's that?" Noah spat, still reeling from Luke's slap.

"Your father."

Noah stared at the blonde, dumbstruck.


	7. Chapter 7

"Yes, Noah, you've become _exactly_ like your father," Luke said, clenching his hands into angry fists.

"That's not true," Noah said quietly.

"Really? So you _didn't_ tell your son that he couldn't see our daughter simply because you don't like Reid?"

Noah's face turned so white Reid thought he was going to faint.

"Do you think we can have a civilized conversation now?" Luke asked.

Noah nodded and sat down in a chair. Luke and Reid sat down on the couch opposite him.

"Do you want to explain how you ended up married to a woman and back in Oakdale? Because the last time I talked to you, you were still gay and living in LA."

Noah blinked at Luke, opened his mouth to speak, and shut it without saying anything. Luke and Reid stared at Noah, waiting for him to talk.

Eventually, Noah said, "When I left Oakdale after you told me you were in love with Reid, I was really messed up. I got out to LA and worked on my movie, but I didn't get very far with it. I decided to go to graduate school. That's where I met Meg. We hit it off right away, talking about old movies and how it sucked to be army brats. At first we were just friends, but then things…progressed."

"But you're gay," Luke said.

Noah shook his head.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"No, I'm not."

"Last time I checked you were," Luke said.

"Well, I'm not anymore," Noah said.

"It doesn't work like that, Noah," Reid said.

Noah shot the doctor an angry look, but didn't retort. Instead, Noah said, "I love Megan."

"Are you _in love_ with Megan?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Noah answered immediately, but sincerely.

Luke started, surprised by the sound of Noah's sincerity. But then it occurred to him that Noah had said the same thing about Maddie; Luke decided that Noah was simply convincing himself that he wasn't gay and didn't push the issue.

"How did you end up back in Oakdale?" Luke asked. "Why not just live in Salem? Since it's obvious that's where you go about your daily business, because in sixteen years we've never seen you around."

"I wanted to live in Oakdale," Noah said.

"Why?" Reid asked, clearly appalled that anyone would willingly return to the town. Luke affectionately slapped his leg.

"I felt at home here," Noah said, directly answering the doctor he disliked so much. "Obviously you decided you wanted to live here, too."

"Well, yeah. But you had no reason to come back," Reid said, Luke tensing beside him, fearing another outburst from Noah.

"Did you tell my mom when you came back?" Luke asked, forestalling a fight he saw brewing between the man he now loved and the one he used to love.

"No," Noah said, turning his attention back to Luke. "I only told Alison because she pried it out of me."

"Were you ever planning on telling me you were living here?" Luke asked.

"No," Noah said honestly. Luke nodded, hurt.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Then Noah asked, "Is that why you came here, Luke? To hear me say that I still don't want to be friends?"

Luke clenched his teeth, clearly upset by Noah's words.

"We came here for Julie," Reid said, squeezing Luke's hand in comfort. "Obviously you know that she wants to date your son Jacob."

"I do."

"And you told him that he couldn't see her because you don't like Reid," Luke said, getting angry again. "Do you really want to do to your son what the Colonel did to you? Or are you too straight to remember that part of your life?" Luke said viciously.

Noah paled again. Reid wrapped his arm around Luke's waist to calm him down.

"I understand that you don't like me, Noah," Reid said. "But you know what. Get over it. This isn't about us anymore. It's about the kids now."

"Have you even asked Jacob how he feels, Noah? If he loves Julie? Or do you not care?" Luke asked.

"Of course I care," Noah said, starting to get angry again.

"Then what's the problem?" Luke asked sweetly, cocking his head to side, daring him to say 'Reid.'

"Nothing," Noah said, seeing that he was going to lose this fight.

"So then we can all attempt to get along for Julie's and Jacob's sakes?" Luke asked.

Noah clenched his teeth and nodded reluctantly.

"And we can go home and tell Julie she can still see Jacob?" Luke asked, standing up, followed by Reid.

Noah stood up, his hands balled into fists, but once again nodded.

"Good. I guess we'll see you around then," Luke said, smirking evilly in triumph. He then grabbed Reid's hand and left the house.

Noah stood stock-still in his living, white-hot anger coursing through his body.


	8. Chapter 8

Luke and Reid practically ran back to their car, excitement and triumph coursing through their veins.

As soon as they were in the vehicle, Reid grabbed Luke and kissed him fiercely.

"What was that for?" Luke asked breathlessly, smiling as he always did when Reid ambushed him with a kiss.

"I love you," Reid said. "You truly are amazing, do you know that?"

Luke smiled more broadly and started the car, pulling out of Noah's driveway, and starting to make their way back to the other side of town.

"You slapped Noah!" Reid said, extremely proudly.

"Yeah, well, he deserved it. He had no right to talk to you like that," Luke said non-chalantly.

"Sure. But I never thought you'd slap him," Reid said.

"Why?"

"Well…because he's Noah."

Luke looked at the doctor. "Whatever lingering feelings I may have had for Noah when you and I first got together have long since disappeared. All I feel for him now is disappointment and disgust. If the roles had been reversed, I would have gladly still been his friend, even if I didn't like his new boyfriend."

"But that's why you're you and not Noah," Reid said, running his fingers through Luke's hair. "Do you really think he's going let Julie go out with Jacob?"

"We'll see. Will you be alright if he does?" Luke asked Reid, turning into the parking lot of their apartment building.

"As long as he behaves himself," Reid said, smirking.

Luke snorted in laughter and followed Reid into the building and their apartment. Once inside, Luke immediately went into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

"Are you hungry?" Luke asked, though he knew it was a stupid question.

"Yeah," Reid said, sauntering over to the younger man. "But not for food."

The fridge door slammed shut as Reid tugged Luke's shirt and crashed their lips together.

"Mmmm," Luke unconsciously moaned into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Reid's neck as the doctor pulled him closer.

"Julie will be home soon before she leaves for the mall to meet her friends," Luke said when they had broken apart.

"Not for a couple hours," Reid said, as he trailed kisses down Luke's neck.

"Yeah, I guess…I guess that's true," Luke said slightly breathlessly, his eyes closed, stretching his neck to give Reid more access.

"Have I mentioned that you're _really_ , _really_ hot when you're defending my honor?" Reid said, pulling Luke by his shirt towards their bedroom.

"Yeah?" Luke said, smiling, slowly unbuttoning Reid's shirt, backing the older man into the room, and kicking the door shut behind him.

"Yeah," Reid said, nodding and smiling at the blonde, pushing him backwards onto the bed as Luke slid the doctor's shirt off his shoulders.

"I think you're going to have to prove that to me," Luke said, smirking and pulling Reid's head down to kiss him.

A half an hour later, Reid was lying on his back, his arms around Luke. Luke's head was on Reid's chest and he was tracing circles on the doctor's stomach.

"I should defend your honor more often," Luke said. Reid chuckled. "I'm serious. Remember that time Chris Hughes accused you of having prescribed drugs for one of his patients, even though you knew nothing about the case? And I told Bob that Chris was just trying to get you fired because he didn't like working with you? I've defended your honor twice and the sex afterwards was _amazing_ ," Luke said, kissing Reid's bare chest.

"What are you saying? Sex is only amazing after you defend my honor?" Reid asked, mocking hurt.

"No!" Luke said, laughing and playfully smacking Reid. "It's just _extra_ amazing after I defend your honor."

"Ah," Reid said, smiling and kissing the top of Luke's head. "I love you."

Luke smiled slightly, closed his eyes, and snuggled closer to Reid. "I love you, too."

After ten minutes of lying entwined with each in silence, Luke just starting to fall asleep, Reid said, "Julie really will be home soon."

"Mmm. Ten more minutes," Luke mumbled against Reid's chest.

"And I'm hungry," Reid said.

Luke sighed and sat up to release Reid, knowing this was a battle he was going to lose.


	9. Chapter 9

As Luke and Reid were finishing the sandwiches Reid had made them for lunch, the door opened and Julie walked into, her arms laden with food.

"Hi. Great-grandma Emma told me to bring you some pies back. She knows how much Daddy loves them," Julie said, bringing them over to the table. Reid immediately opened one of the boxes and cut a slice out of the warm apple pie.

"Mmmm," Reid moaned in delight, closing his eyes as he savored the deliciousness of the pie.

Luke and Julie smiled at each other. "Grandma and Grandpa say hello. And Grandma wants you to call her. She said you haven't talked to her in a couple days," Julie said to Luke.

"I've been busy," Luke mumbled.

"Hey, I'm just passing along the message," Julie said, starting to walk to her room. "I'm going to change and then I'm meeting Melanie, Harmony, Peter, and some other kids at the mall."

"Is Jacob one of those other kids?" Luke asked.

"Why?" Julie asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Is he?" Luke said, looking at his daughter.

"Maybe," Julie said mysteriously.

"Jules, we talked to Noah today," Luke said.

"You did?" Julie asked warily, walking back over to the kitchen table and sitting down in one of the empty chairs.

Reid nodded, picking the crumbs of his pie piece off of his plate with finger and eating them.

"What happened?" Julie asked, her eyes wide.

"Well, there was a lot of yelling, working out unresolved issues we had with each other," Luke said. "But in the end, we convinced Noah to let Jacob date you."

"You're joking?" Julie said, looking back and forth between her two fathers waiting for Reid to contradict Luke. Reid, however, simply smiled at her. "Thank you!" Julie screeched, bouncing out of her chair and hugging both Luke and Reid very tightly. "I don't know how to thank you!"

"You don't have to thank us, Julie. You're our daughters. We're supposed to do these things for you," Luke said.

"I love you both so much," Julie said, hugging the two men tightly again. "I can't wait to tell everyone tonight. And I have to call Jacob to meet us there!" Julie said, running into her room.

Luke chuckled at his daughter's excitement.

"Is she okay?" Reid asked, concerned that Julie was so chipper.

"Of course. She's just excited that she can go out with Jacob. I remember being that happy when I first started dating Noah," Luke said reminiscently, but then the smile from his face as he thought of the way and his first love used to be.

"What about me?" Reid asked, starting to get jealous of Noah again. Even after twenty years, Luke mentioning his relationship with Noah sent Reid into angry stabs of jealousy.

"Of course I was excited," Luke said, taking Reid's hand in his and kissing it. "But I was older when we started dating, and life had matured me quickly and cruelly between the time I found Noah and I found – sorry, kidnapped – you. So, I may not have been jumping up and down, proclaiming my happiness from the rooftops, but I was happier than I'd been in a long time."

Reid smiled and leaned over to kiss Luke.

"I called Jacob and he's going to meet us at the mall. He said that his dad backed down and said we could go out." Julie smiled at her fathers.

"Don't be out past 11:30!" Luke called after her as she left the apartment.

"You do realize that this means we're going to have to spend time with Noah," Reid said.

"Yep," Luke said.

"That'll be fun," Reid said sarcastically.

"Especially if we torment him," Luke said evilly, but seriously.

Reid grinned and kissed Luke.


	10. Chapter 10

A week later, Luke was sitting at the table in the kitchen of the Snyder farm with his mother, while Reid rummaged through the fridge looking for left over apple pie.

"What's Julie doing today?" Lily asked, gluing a picture of an eight-year old Luke with a three-year old Faith on his lap into the scrapbook she had recently started making.

"She was on the phone with Melanie Jonas when we left her and she has a date tonight," Luke said absentmindedly, flipping through the old pictures of him and his family which were laid out on the table.

"A date? Like with a boy?"

"Yes, Mom. Like with a boy," Luke said. Reid chuckled as he sat down toting a plate of cookies he had found instead of the pie.

"What's his name? Do I know him?"

"Jacob and no you don't know him," Luke said, still looking at pictures.

"Do I know his parents?" Lily said, taking a picture from Luke's hand and putting glue on the back of it.

Luke and Reid looked at each other.

"What?" Lily asked, noticing their exchange of looks.

"Actually, you do," Luke said slowly.

"Who?"

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but closed it without saying anything.

"Tell me."

"Noah," Luke mumbled.

"I'm sorry?" Lily said.

Luke took a deep breath and said, "Jacob's father is Noah."

"Noah? Noah Mayer?" Lily asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Yeah," Luke said slowly.

"Noah's in Oakdale?"

Luke nodded.

"Apparently he's been living in Oakdale for about fifteen years," Reid told his mother-in-law.

"Have you seen him around?" Lily asked, confused.

"No. He lives all the way on the other side of town, literally right on the edge of Salem. That's basically where he lives. But because his address is in Oakdale, his son has to go to Oakdale High," Luke said.

"Have you seen him?"

"We went over to his house last weekend. We needed to have a little conversation with him," Luke said.

"What kind of conversation?"

"The kind where we told him he was acting like his father and that he can't tell his son who he can or can not date," Reid said.

"Julie came home one day a couple weeks crying that Jacob had broken up with her because of Reid," Luke elaborated. "Eventually, we were able to pry it out of her that Jacob is Noah's son."

"Noah told his son he couldn't date Julie because of Reid?" Lily asked.

"Seems he's been holding onto his little grudge against Reid for the last twenty years," Luke said, smirking.

"That's terrible," Lily said.

"It's okay. We straightened everything out," Reid said.

"And speaking of straight, Noah _also_ apparently thinks he's straight again," Luke said, smiling falsely and widely.

"What do you mean?"

"He has a wife," Reid said bluntly.

"He practically came out – no pun intended – and said that what he and I had had wasn't real," Luke said.

Lily smiled sadly and patted Luke's hand. Reid kissed him on the cheek.

"It's fine, really," Luke said. "I honestly don't know what I ever saw in him."

"But you said that Julie has a date with Jacob," Lily said.

"Yeah. We convinced Noah that he'd get hell from us unless he didn't the kids go out with each other," Luke said.

Lily smiled slightly. "Just as long as long as you don't blackmail him, the way you did this one," Lily said, indicating Reid.

Luke and Reid laughed.


	11. Chapter 11

"Dad. Daddy. Can I talk to you?" Julie asked, coming into the living room from her bedroom a month later.

"Sure. What's going on?" Luke asked, as Julie sat down in the chair opposite the couch on which he and Reid were sitting.

"There's an end of the year party in the park next week. It's hosted by the PTA and parents are invited. I was hoping you would come."

"Of course. Why wouldn't we?" Luke asked.

"Well, because of Noah," Julie said warily.

"Hey, listen to me, Jules. Don't ever worry about us and Noah. The three of us are adults and we can handle one afternoon together."

"At least the park is an open space. We can run away," Reid said. Luke smacked the back of his head and Julie smiled.

"So you'll come?"

"We'll be there!" Luke said enthusiastically.

"Thanks," Julie said and went back into her room.

"This'll be a barrel of laughs," Reid said.

"Oh, it'll be fun to make Noah uncomfortable," Luke said, leaning back against Reid's shoulder. "I'd like to get to know his wife, though. She seemed nice."

"Really? You want to be friends with Noah's wife?"

"Sure. Is that weird?" Luke asked.

"Well, you know, the whole subject of friends is weird to me anyway," Reid said. Luke snorted. "I think it would make Noah _so_ nervous."

"Yeah. He'd be afraid I'd tell her about him and me," Luke said.

"Would you?"

"Nah. It's for him to tell her. If he wants to forget it ever happened then that's his problem," Luke said.

"I honestly don't know why he'd _ever_ want to forget being with you," Reid said, kissing the top of Luke's head.

Luke smiled and closed his eyes, leaning his head against the doctor's. "Noah was never comfortable with being gay the way we are. I think it's because he never had his father's approval."

"So what?" Reid said angrily.

"He craved his father's approval. So because the Colonel wouldn't accept him, he couldn't completely accept himself," Luke said, looking at Reid.

"So you're not going to out him to Megan, then?"

"No. But I still want to get to know her. If Julie's dating her son, then we should know her, shouldn't we? I want to make sure she's not going to try to kill her, the way the Colonel tried to kill me," Luke said.

"This is bringing up a lot of bad memories, isn't it?" Reid asked.

Luke was silent for a while. Then he said, "Yeah. I mean, I've thought about over the years, like when I see someone in a wheel chair or when I hear about someone struggling to come to terms with their sexuality. But it's never all hit me like a ton of bricks, like it has the last couple months since we found out Noah was back in Oakdale."

"You haven't seemed particularly sad, though."

"That's because when I get sad about what happened with Noah, I think of the one truly good thing that come from my relationship with him."

"What's that?" Reid asked.

"You," Luke said, smiling at the doctor. "Us."

Reid smiled and kissed Luke.

"I guess this means we're going to this picnic thingie," Reid said.

"Yep," Luke said, flashing Reid a dazzling smile.

Reid sighed in resignation.


	12. Chapter 12

"Do I have to be here?" Reid asked, fidgeting unceasingly. He was standing by a tree with Luke on the edge of Oakdale Park, watching Julie talking and laughing with her friends, Jacob included. They still had not spotted Noah or his wife.

"Yes, you do," Luke said, as Julie grabbed Jacob's hand and led him towards where Luke and Reid stood.

"Dad. Daddy. I want you to meet Jacob," Julie said, stopping in front of her two fathers, her hand still in Jacob's.

"Hi, Mr. Snyder. Dr. Oliver," Jacob said, holding out his free hand for Luke and Reid to shake.

"Luke and Reid, please," Luke said, shaking the teenager's hand and smiling. It was startling how much he looked like Noah.

"I want to thank you for what you did for us," Jacob said politely.

"No thanks necessary," Luke said. "Are your parents here?"

"My mom's here. My dad had some sort of meeting. He'll be here later," Jacob said. Luke incomprehensibly raised his eyebrows and looked at Reid.

"Julie! Jacob! Come here, I want to show you something!" their friend Melanie called to them.

"Go," Luke said, smiling.

"It was nice to meet you, sirs," Jacob said and followed Julie back to their friends.

"Well, that's interesting," Reid said as soon as the teenagers were out of earshot.

"So Noah decided to be busy for most of today," Luke said, shifting his position so he was leaning against the tree, but looking at Reid.

"Yep," Reid said, also turning so he could face Luke.

"Well, then he can't stop us from talking to his wife," Luke said mischievously.

Reid smirked and followed Luke to the table at which Megan Mayer sat talking to a group of other mothers.

"Excuse us," Luke said, interrupting the women's conversation. "We were wondering if we could borrow Megan? It's about the kids, you know how it is." Luke smiled sweetly.

She looked surprised, but followed the two men to another table a little way across the park.

"You're Noah's friends, right? Julie's parents?" Megan asked, once they had all sat down.

"Yes. Julie is our daughter," Luke said. "I'm sorry. I don't think Noah ever introduced us. I'm Luke and this is my husband Reid."

"It's very nice to meet you," Megan said, smiling. "Are Julie and Jacob alright?"

"Yeah. They're fine," Luke said. "We actually wanted to get to know you. I mean our children are dating. We should be on friendly terms."

"I agree. Why don't you start by telling me how you two know Noah." Megan looked curiously at Luke and Reid.

Luke laughed nervously and said, "Well, that's a long story."

"I've got time."

Luke and Reid were both silent for a minute. Then Luke said, "Well, Noah and I met the summer before our freshman year of college."

"You've been friends for thirty years?" Megan asked in surprise. "I'm sorry, but he's never mentioned you."

"No…I wouldn't have expected him to," Luke said slowly. When Megan gave him a curious look, Luke said, "We aren't really friends anymore. Just after college things got…messy between us." Luke was finding it incredibly difficult to explain the situation fully without revealing everything Noah had tried so hard to conceal.

"Because you're gay?" Megan asked gently

Luke smiled slightly. "Hmmm…sort of," Luke said, pensively. "He didn't exactly hit it off with Reid."

"Why? You seem very nice," Megan said, addressing the doctor.

Reid smiled at her.

"Throughout college Noah and I had been best friends," Luke said. "And it had kind of always been just the two of us. So when Reid came along, Noah didn't like having competition for my attention." Luke thought that statement summed up the situation without making it obvious that he and Noah had been boyfriends.

"He should have realized that you'd want to be with someone," Megan said.

"Yes. He should have," Luke said, again speaking slowly trying to figure out how to explain the situation without giving away full disclosure. "But when I knew Noah, he was very naïve about those kinds of things. He expected the world to stay the way it was and change only if and when he wanted it to and in the way he wanted it to. There were many times when he didn't respect my feelings very much."

"I'm sorry," Megan said sincerely.

"Thank you," Luke said, smiling at her. "Just after Reid and I started dating, Noah decided to move to LA. I talked to once a few years after he left Oakdale and I hadn't heard from him until Julie told us that she was dating his son."

"Is that why you came to our house a couple months ago? Because you wanted to catch up with Noah?"

"Yeah," Luke said. He didn't think it was his place to tell Megan that Noah had forbidden their son from seeing Julie.

"Well, I'm very glad you did. And I'm glad we talked today. I enjoyed hearing about how you knew Noah. And speaking of Noah, here he comes. Noah, over here!" Megan called to her husband, waving him over to their table.

"Megan, what are you doing?" Noah asked, more angrily than the occasion required.

"I was getting to know your friends, Julie's parents," she said, standing up and kissing Noah's cheek. Luke and Reid also stood up.

"Really? I hope they didn't reveal anything too bad about me," Noah said, giving Luke and Reid a false smile, while his eyes flashed daggers.

"Just that you didn't keep in touch much over the years," Megan said.

"Yeah. Our lives just went in different directions," Noah said, wrapping his arm tightly around Megan's waist.

"And now they've come back together," Megan said. "We should keep it that way. Especially since Jacob and Julie are together. How about a dinner this weekend at our house with the six of us? It would be nice for all of us to be together and get to know each other better. And the three of you can reconnect. How does that sound?" She looked at Luke and Reid.

"Sounds wonderful, Megan," Luke said, giving her a grin from ear to ear, as Noah paled and Julie and Jacob walked over to the four adults.

"Hi," Julie said, hugging Reid.

"Hi, Dad," Jacob said to Noah.

"Ready to go, Jules?" Luke asked.

"Yep."

"It was very nice to officially meet you, Megan," Luke said. "And thank you for the invitation. We'll see you this Saturday."

"We look forward to it," Megan said.

Luke and Reid both smiled widely at an ashen-faced Noah and began walking to their car, Julie following after she kissed Jacob goodbye.


	13. Chapter 13

"You're enjoying tormenting Noah, aren't you?" Reid asked a couple hours later. They were sitting on the couch, Luke's back leaning against Reid's side, Reid's arm around Luke's chest, their feet sprawled out on the coffee table in front of them. Julie was in her room talking to Jacob on the phone.

"Absolutely," Luke said enthusiastically. "But I really do want to go to this dinner. I think it will be fun for all of us to spend time together."

"Sure," Reid said sarcastically.

"I'll bet at least the food will be good," Luke said.

"It better be," Reid said emphatically.

Luke chuckled and said, "Who knows? Maybe this dinner will resolve the issues Noah has with us."

"After what happened at his house last time, do you really think that's even possible?"

"Well, his wife will be there this time. And the kids. He won't want to get into what went down between the three of us," Luke said, shifting so that he could look at Reid, while still remaining enveloped in the doctor's arms. "Actually, it will probably work better for him. He obviously hasn't told his wife he used to be gay, so we won't be able to talk about it with her there."

"Does that upset you?" Reid asked.

"Upset me? It upsets me that I wasted three years of my life on someone who won't acknowledge that those three years even happened. But then that sadness turns to anger. Mostly I'm just really angry at Noah," Luke said, closing his eyes and burying his face in the crook of Reid's neck.

"But you still want to have dinner with him and his wife?" Reid said, hugging Luke more tightly and kissing the top of his head.

"Definitely," Luke said, sitting up and turning to face Reid. "If Noah makes me angry, don't I have to return the favor? Why should I let him dictate my life? I let him do that to me for far too long!" Luke's voice jumped an octave. "Why can't I make him squirm? Why can't I make him feel guilty the way he always made me feel? Why after all these years, should he still be allowed to tell me how I feel!" Luke stopped his yelling, breathing heavily, angry tears spilling down his cheeks.

"You shouldn't," Reid said, taking Luke's hand in one of his and stroking Luke's cheek with the other in an attempt to calm him down. "You have every right to make him feel uncomfortable. What he did to you wasn't love. It was possession. Luke, if you want to tell his wife everything you have every right to! It was your life, too, and he can't make you lie for him. Not anymore. Not after twenty years of not even having spoken a word to each other."

"I won't out him, Reid," Luke said, slightly calmer now. "If he wants to hide in the closet, then that's his right. But I'm certainly not going to be afraid of him, or whatever. His wife seems really nice and I have nothing against her. I want to get to know her better. And Julie is really looking forward to the six of us having dinner together."

"Then we'll go," Reid said, taking Luke's face in both of his hands and kissing his forehead. Luke closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Reid's waist. "I want you to promise me something, though," Reid said, creating a space between them so he could look at Luke.

"What?" Luke asked.

"I want you to promise me that you won't let him get to you the way he just did!"

"I'm sorry. I got really worked up, didn't I?" Luke said sheepishly.

"A little," Reid said, smirking.

"I'm sorry," Luke said, burying his head in Reid's chest.

"It's alright," Reid said, hugging Luke and chuckling.

"I cannot believe Noah's still getting under my skin," Luke mumbled into Reid's shirt.

"If it makes you feel any better I think you and me get under his skin just as much," Reid said, leaning back on the couch and pulling Luke with him.

"I guess," Luke said, draping his arm over Reid's waist and snuggling closer to the older man.

"I'm absolutely certain that he's dreading Saturday's dinner," Reid said.

"You really think so?" Luke asked. "He hates us that much?"

"I don't know. But I think he's absolutely terrified that we're going to out him. And that's why he's been avoiding us for two decades," Reid said, picking up the remote and turning on the TV, as Luke shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Well, then, this should be fun," Luke said, smiling at Reid. Reid grinned back.


	14. Chapter 14

"Julie, hurry up if you don't want to be late!" Luke called to his daughter. He was standing by the doorway, his jacket on and the keys in his hand. Reid was standing next to him, fidgeting.

"Can I stay home?" Reid asked.

"No," Luke said, opening the door and pushing Reid into the hallway as Julie came rushing out of her room.

"I'm sorry! I had to fix my makeup," Julie said, grabbing her coat and putting it on in the hallway as Luke closed and locked the door.

"It's okay, Jules. If we're late, we're late," Luke said, smiling.

A half hour later, Luke pulled the car into Noah's driveway. Julie immediately popped out of the car and hurried up to the front door. Reid, however, remained firmly in his seat.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked.

"Noah hates me. Why am I having dinner with him?"

"Because Julie is dating his son and because you want to torment him," Luke said, getting out of the car and opening Reid's door. "And there's food." Luke smirked.

Reid sighed in resignation and got out of the car. In a minute they were at the doorstep with Julie just as Megan opened the door to greet them.

"Hello. Come in," Megan said, standing aside to let Luke, Reid, and Julie into the house.

"Hi," Jacob said, greeting the Oliver-Snyder family and briefly kissing Julie.

"Noah! Luke and Reid are here!" Megan yelled upstairs.

"That'll get him to come down," Reid mumbled sarcastically to Luke who chuckled.

"I'll be right there!" Noah shouted back, quite cheerfully.

"Hurry up!" Megan said. "Come in, come in." She gestured them into the living room. "Take off your coats. Make yourselves comfortable. Do you want something to drink?" Megan asked hospitably, as Julie and Jacob slid off to another part of the house.

"Water's fine," Luke said.

"Are you sure?"

"Luke doesn't drink," Noah said matter-of-factly, coming into the kitchen.

Luke, Reid, and Megan all looked at Noah, surprised. It appeared Noah was surprised at himself because he had a guilty look on his face; it was as if he didn't know he'd remembered anything about Luke from when they had been dating and that he had just outed himself.

"Oh," Megan said simply, clearly frazzled that it was Noah who told her that Luke didn't drink.

"It's fine, Megan. You didn't know," Luke said, still staring at Noah.

"Why don't you sit down?" Megan said, bringing over three glasses of water to the table. "Dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes."

"Thank you," Luke said, taking a glass of water and sitting down at the table next to Reid. Noah sat across from them.

The three men sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, Megan moving around behind them finishing cooking dinner.

Unable to handle the tension any longer, Luke said, "You have a very nice house, Noah."

"Thank you," Noah answered stiffly.

"Where do you live?" Noah asked, realizing that he didn't know and not sure if he wanted to.

"Reid and Katie's old place," Luke said. "I moved in when Katie moved with Chris into Margo and Tom's house."

Noah nodded briefly, but said nothing. The conversation fizzed out and awkward silence returned.

"Don't you boys want to catch up?" Megan said, startling the men. They hadn't heard her sneak up behind them in the brief moments that they had been talking.

"At dinner," Noah said, standing up. "Can I help?"

"Actually, dinner's ready. Julie! Jacob! Dinner!" Megan shouted, hoping that the teenagers would be able to hear her wherever they were hidden away.

The four adults sat down at the table, Luke and Reid across from Noah and Megan, respectively. Ten minutes passed before Julie and Jacob appeared. Julie sat next to Reid, Jacob next to the empty seat of Megan, who was in the kitchen getting the food.

A minute later, Megan came back into the dining room toting a large chicken, which she placed on the table and then immediately returned to the kitchen to get the plate of string beans with almonds. After placing the vegetable on the table, Megan once again went back into the kitchen. This time she brought into the dining room a dish of mashed potatoes with broccoli and melted cheese on top. When she placed the dish on the table, Megan sat down in her chair.

"Enjoy," Megan said, as Reid immediately took a large chunk of chicken and two large spoonsful of both string beans and potatoes. The ends of Luke's and Julie's mouths twitched in attempts not to smile, while Noah looked at his former doctor scandalously.

The others took their food more civilly, while Reid began eating as though he had not seen food for a month.

"This is amazing," Reid said, after taking his first bite of chicken.

"Thank you, Reid," Megan said, smiling. Reid actually smiled back and Noah scowled.

Luke noticed Noah's face and said, "Something wrong, Noah?"

"What?"

"You have a funny look on your face," Luke said, smirking.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Noah said, stabbing his chicken with unwonted venom.

Luke looked at Reid and smiled slightly.

"Luke, Reid, how did you two meet?" Megan asked. Luke, Reid, and Noah all simultaneously stopped eating, their forks in the air. Julie looked at her fathers and then at Noah, her eyes wide, but she continued eating, albeit a little more slowly than she had been before. Jacob looked at Julie, confused.

Luke looked at Noah. Noah incomprehensibly shook his head and Luke saw in Noah's eyes that he was pleading with him not to tell Megan the truth. Sighing internally and wondering why after all these years he was still protecting Noah, Luke said, "My college boyfriend needed a doctor. He had had an accident and Reid was the only doctor in the country who had the ability to fix him." Luke saw Noah release the breath he had been holding and then continued, "I was able to convince Reid to come to Oakdale to do the surgery." Reid surprisingly remained quiet instead of saying Luke kidnapped him the way he usually did when Luke told the story of how they met.

"Was this before or after you left Oakdale, Noah?" Megan curiously asked her husband.

Noah choked on his food slightly. When he recovered he said, "Just before I left."

"So you knew Luke's boyfriend?"

Luke raised his eyebrows at Noah, trying very hard not to laugh. While shoveling food into his mouth, Reid watched Noah like a hawk.

"Yeah," Noah answered slowly, his voice an octave higher than usual. "We were all friends. I had nothing against him."

"Of course you didn't, Noah. How could you?" Luke responded more forcefully than he had meant to.

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked, entering the conversation for the first time.

Luke bit his tongue and said, "Well, like Noah said, we were all friends. It was only when Reid came into the picture that Noah felt that we couldn't be friends anymore."

Noah stared at Luke, his teeth clenched in anger.

"Isn't that right, Noah?" Luke asked.

"I felt like a third wheel," Noah said through his teeth. "I never felt that way with you and Casey."

Now it was Luke who choked on his food. Luke was incensed. While staring daggers at Noah, Luke thought to himself, _Did he really just give my fake ex-boyfriend a name? Granted I_ did _pretend briefly that Casey was my boyfriend. But that was because Noah was married to Ameera!_

"Casey? Was that your boyfriend who needed Reid's help?" Megan asked.

"Yes," Reid said, letting Luke seethe in anger.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I ever asked what kind of doctor you are."

"I'm a brain surgeon," Reid told Megan.

"A brain surgeon! Wow!" Megan said in awe. Reid grinned. He never got tired of people being awe-inspired by him.

"If you don't mind, may I ask what happened to Casey that you needed a brain surgeon to fix him?" Megan asked Luke politely.

Looking straight at Noah, Luke replied, "He was working with fireworks for a school project. He was stupid and was thinking about other things instead of concentrating on what he was doing and they blew up in his face. He went blind."

Megan, Jacob, and Julie all gasped in horror and surprise. Julie, of course, knew that they were actually talking about Noah, but she had never known exactly what happened that had caused Luke to blackmail Reid.

"I'm so sorry," Megan said. "That must have been horrible for him."

"Yes, it was," Luke said, still looking directly at Noah. "Unfortunately, he didn't really want me around after the accident, even though I went through Heaven and Hell to get Reid to Oakdale to do his surgery."

"That must have been awful for you. To love him so much, and not be appreciated for what you did for him," Megan said sadly.

"You have no idea the pain it caused me," Luke responded quietly, his eyes still on the man sitting across from him.

Unable to bear Luke's stare any longer, Noah looked away on the pretense of taking more potatoes on his plate.

Luke cleared his throat for a second and then said, "Thankfully, Reid was there to pick up the pieces." Luke ran his hand through Reid's hair.

Megan smiled and turned to Noah. "Where were you when Casey had his accident?"

Noah stared wide-eyed at his wife. "Around," Noah said rapidly. "I was busy getting ready to go to LA."

"Oh. Well, did you help Luke deal with Casey's accident? Did you try to explain to Casey that, if he loved Luke, he should want him around? It must have hurt you to see your friends in such a bad place."

Luke and Reid looked at each other and then looked at Noah, waiting for his response.

Noah opened his mouth, but closed it without speaking. He opened his mouth again and said, "Well, there really was no talking Casey out of blaming Luke for the accident. And I was focusing on getting the scholarship I needed to take my movie to UCLA."

Megan frowned at Noah. "What about Reid?"

"What about Reid?" Noah asked.

"Luke said you didn't like him. And you said you felt like a third wheel. But there's more to the story," Megan said astutely. "Was it because you wanted your two friends to be together?"

"Yeah…" Noah said, stuffing a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth to avoid further questions.

"Were you able to fix Casey?" Megan asked Reid.

"I was. He got his sight back completely."

"That's wonderful! But how did you two happen?" Megan asked, gesturing to Luke and Reid.

"Like I said, Casey and I weren't together anymore after his accident and Reid was there. It just sort of…."

"Happened," Reid said, finishing Luke's sentence. "It most certainly wasn't planned."

Luke chuckled and Julie smiled.

"I had planned on doing the surgery and getting the hell out of this godforsaken town," Reid said.

"But he couldn't resist my charms," Luke said playfully. Noah looked as if he was going to lose the food he had so recently eaten.

Reid smiled at Luke and said, "I guess not."

Megan smiled whole-heartedly at her guests. Julie let out an "Ugh!" and covered her face in embarrassment.

"That's truly wonderful," Megan said, standing up and beginning to clear the dishes. "Is everyone ready for dessert? Or do you want to wait a little bit?"

"Now's good," Reid said quickly.

Megan laughed.

"Dessert it is then."


	15. Chapter 15

"No, no. Don't be silly!" Megan said, as Luke stood up and started collecting dishes. "You're a guest. You don't clean up. Jacob, will help me," Megan said, as Luke sat down. Jacob reluctantly stood up and brought the dirty dishes into the kitchen, his mother right behind him. Noah remained firmly in his seat, staring at Luke and Reid.

"I think I'll help Jacob and Mrs. Mayer," Julie said, standing up and bringing some more dishes into the kitchen.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Luke whispered to Noah when Julie was out of earshot.

"What?"

"Giving my fake ex-boyfriend a name! You had no right to do that!" Luke said.

"It was going to seem weird if he didn't have a name," Noah said defensively.

"You could have told her the truth, Noah!" Luke whispered.

"No, I couldn't!" Noah said more loudly, but still quiet enough so that the three in the kitchen couldn't hear him.

Luke raised his arms in exasperation and shook his head.

"Why are you so afraid to admit that you were with Luke?" Reid asked.

"I'm not scared!" Noah said, glaring at Reid.

"Could've fooled me," Reid said, placing his hand over Luke's to calm him down.

"Here we go," Megan chirped, coming back into the dining room with a large chocolate cake. Reid's face lit up in excitement.

Julie and Jacob walked back into the room behind Megan, Julie carrying plates and silverware, Jacob carrying a tray of good, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies.

"This dessert looks delicious, Megan," Luke said, turning his attention away from his very irritating ex-boyfriend.

"I would say thank you, expect I must confess that both the cake and the cookies are store bought," Megan said, sitting down.

"Eh, cake's cake," Reid said, grabbing the cake slicer and cutting himself a large piece of cake.

"I'm sorry, Megan. We've been talking about us all night. We've seemed very selfish," Luke said.

"May we be excused?" Julie asked, indicating herself and Jacob.

Luke and Megan both nodded. The teenagers practically ran from the room in their excitement to be alone.

"Leave the door open!" Megan shouted after them. She then turned to Luke and said, "Oh, don't worry about it. I must confess I really invited you here to learn more about you and when you knew Noah. Noah's very mysterious about his life before he met me," Megan said.

"Is he?" Luke asked, his voice inflected delicately.

"Yes. It's like he's got some big secret he wants to keep hidden from me," Megan joked, patting Noah's hand.

Noah laughed nervously, while Luke raised an eyebrow at him.

"I hope we've been informative then," Reid said, taking a stack of cookies since he had finished his piece of cake.

"Yes. Very much. Thank you," Megan said.

"Still, I feel guilty," Luke said, taking a bite of his piece of cake. "So, Megan, where are you from?"

"Los Angeles. Born and bred," Megan said.

"And you agreed to come to Oakdale?" Reid asked incredulously.

"Yes, of course. It seemed really important to Noah," Megan said.

"Reid occasionally still tries to escape from Oakdale," Luke explained.

"You make it sound like he's a prisoner," Megan said.

Luke and Reid burst into laughter.

When he caught his breath, Luke said, "Reid insists that I kidnapped him when I asked him to come here to do the surgery on N – Casey." Luke caught himself. Noah looked at Luke as if he was ready to kill him, but Megan had not noticed the slip.

"Really?" Megan said, her voice quavering from speaking while laughing.

Reid nodded fervently.

"But I know he secretly loves Oakdale. He'll just never admit it," Luke said.

"I'll admit it when Hell freezes over," Reid said, smiling nevertheless.

"That can be arranged," Luke said, smirking at the doctor.

Reid chuckled and smiled at Luke.

"You two seem really happy together," Megan said, smiling at the two men.

"We are, thank you," Reid said, draping his arm around the back of Luke's chair, letting his fingers brush lightly against the younger man's blonde hair.

Noah glared at them, but said nothing. Instead he mimicked his ex-doctor and wrapped his arm around Megan's shoulder.

"Where are you from?" Megan asked Luke.

"Oakdale."

"You were born here?"

"Born and raised," Luke said. "I've never really had the desire to leave. I mean, I've been other places. But I've always wanted to just stay here to live."

"I really have no idea why," Reid mumbled. Luke smacked his hand, but kept their fingers intertwined.

"Is your whole family here?"

"Yep."

"And literally owns half the town," Reid said.

"That, too. What about your family, Megan? Are they in Los Angeles?"

"My dad passed away a few years ago, but my mother is still in LA. She lives with my younger sister. My older brother and his wife live in New York. We don't see each other very often."

"I'm sorry," Luke said, sincerely.

"It's okay. We get together on holidays. But with us all living in different parts of the country, it's hard to find a time and place to meet more often than that. But we spend a lot of time with Noah's sister, her husband, and their kids," Megan said.

"I'm sorry?" Luke asked, thoroughly confused.

"What?" Megan asked.

"Noah's sister?" Luke looked at Noah.

"Yeah. You met her a few times when I was living here," Noah said, giving Luke a knowing look.

"I did?" Luke asked, getting more confused by the moment.

"You never met Ameera?" Megan asked.

"Ameera?" Luke asked, staring in disbelief at Noah.

Noah nodded.

Luke sat staring incredulously at Noah for a few seconds, his mouth hanging slightly open. Then he said, "You know what? You're right. I did meet Ameera a couple times when she would visit you. It's been awhile. Sorry, I forgot about her."

"It's okay," Noah said simply, smiling sarcastically at Luke.

"I should clean up," Megan said, standing up and clearing the desserts from the table. "No. I told you I don't need help." Luke sat back down in his chair. Noah, however, immediately stood up and helped his wife bring the dirty dishes into the kitchen.

When Noah was out of the room, Luke looked at Reid and just shook his head. Understanding Luke completely, Reid shrugged his shoulders. Both men were silent in their disbelief of how far Noah had gone to keep his secret.

Not wanting to sit at the table anymore, Luke picked up a few empty glasses and brought them into the kitchen, Reid right behind him, toting dirty silverware.

"I told you that you didn't have to help," Megan said, putting her hands on her hips.

"We felt funny just sitting at the table," Luke said.

"Thank you. You can just dump the glasses and silverware in the sink. We'll wash them later." Luke and Reid did what they were told.

"It's getting late. We should be going," Luke said.

Megan nodded and walked over to the staircase. She yelled, "Julie! Jacob! Time to say goodbye!"

As Megan retrieved Luke's, Reid's, and Julie's jackets from the closet, Julie and Jacob came prancing down the staircase, hand-in-hand.

"Thank you very much for a lovely evening," Luke said to Megan, taking his coat and walking to the door. Noah followed stiffly to open the door.

"The food was amazing," Reid said, smiling, also taking his coat and following Luke.

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Mayer," Julie said, as Jacob helped her into her coat.

"It was my pleasure, Julie," Megan said, giving her a quick hug.

Luke, Reid, and Noah stood huddled at the doorway waiting for Julie and Jacob to say their goodbyes.

Quietly, Luke said, "It must be exhausting, Noah."

"What?"

"Living so big of a lie," Luke said. "I honestly don't know how you maintain enough energy to keep it going without wanting to break down and just tell the truth. I know I couldn't.

"Yeah, well. I'm not you," Noah said, scowling.

"No. I guess not. And you're not the person I thought you were, either. And certainly not the person I loved."

Noah clenched his teeth and pursed his lips as Megan and the kids walked over.

"Ready?" Reid asked Julie.

"Yep."

"Thanks again, Megan," Luke said, ignoring Noah.

"Anytime," Megan said, smiling.

Luke smiled back at her and led Reid and Megan out the door. Noah immediately slammed the door behind them.


	16. Chapter 16

A couple hours later, Luke and Reid were lying in bed, Reid on his back with his arm around Luke's shoulders, Luke's head on his chest and his arm draped over Reid's waist.

"Are you alright?" Reid asked Luke. "You've been very quiet since we left Noah's house."

"He's deeper in the closet now than when I met him," Luke said. "He's created such an elaborate lie and Megan has no idea. I just don't understand."

"Don't understand what?"

"Noah. When I was first realizing that I was gay I struggled really hard with that realization. But all I ever wanted to do was let it out. There came a point when I just couldn't keep it in anymore, couldn't live the lie anymore. I don't know how he's stayed in the closet for twenty years."

"Lots of people do it," Reid said.

"But he was out. He was proud. Or so he seemed. And then us getting together pushed him back into the closet? It doesn't make any sense," Luke said, looking at Reid.

"Everyone's different. You always said that he never seemed comfortable being gay."

"I guess. But Ameera? Why say she's his sister? Why not tell the truth about them being married? That had nothing to do with him being gay."

"I don't know. Maybe he just really wanted to pretend that the three years he spent with you actually didn't happen."

"Was it really that awful for him to be with me?" Luke said quietly, more to himself than to Reid.

"I think it's more about how he felt being gay than how he felt being with you," Reid said, kissing the top of Luke's head and hugging him a little more tightly.

Luke was silent, but absentmindedly traced tiny circles on Reid's shirt.

"Maybe I just wasn't good enough to make him want to accept who he is," Luke said quietly and slowly, turning over onto his side, his back to Reid.

"What do you mean 'not good enough'?" Reid asked, propping himself up on his elbow.

Luke didn't say anything for a second or two. Then, his back still to Reid, he said, "Like maybe he felt I was too clingy or pushy and that being with any man was going to be the same thing."

Reid scowled. He hated when Luke talked like this about himself and he thoroughly blamed Noah for it.

"Or maybe he felt that he could control a woman more than he would be able to control a man," Reid said, draping his arm around Luke's waist and resting his head on the younger man's shoulder.

Luke chuckled. "That sounds so misogynistic."

"I'm serious. Noah controlled you. At least when I saw you together, and even after you had broken up, he was still pulling the strings. He was telling you how you were supposed to feel. About him. About your relationship. About yourself."

Luke didn't respond.

"Hey, blondie, look at me."

Luke turned onto his back and twisted his head to look at the doctor.

"Whatever possessed Noah to go back in the closet and create this life for himself has _absolutely_ nothing to do with you. How could it when you haven't even talked to him in twenty years?"

"What does it matter that I haven't talked to him in two decades? If it was his attraction to me that pulled him out of the closet, and then it was my loss of attraction to him that put him back in the closet, how can I not blame myself?" Luke said, his eyes starting to form tears.

"Because it's his issues. His decision," Reid said, running his fingers through Luke's hair. "Why is his lie upsetting you so much?"

"Because it makes me question the two and half years of my life that I dedicated to him. If he's so much more comfortable being with a woman and pretending that he's straight, why did he spend so much time with me? Was our relationship the real lie and what he had with Maddie and now with Megan the true relationships?"

Reid was silent; he didn't have the answers to those questions. Instead he said, "Regardless of what your relationship with Noah was to him, I do believe that he loved you. Even if at the end it didn't seem that way."

Luke smiled sadly at the doctor. "I know he loved me. But somehow I don't think it was the same way I loved him. Honestly, I don't think he would have blackmailed someone to fix me."

"And kidnap," Reid added hastily.

"Definitely," Luke said, chuckling lightly. "After I was shot, he wouldn't even come to the hospital. Granted we weren't officially dating then, but you know his excuse? He never told this to me, but he told my parents and they told me. He said that he was 'absolutely sure I wouldn't want anything to do with him.' Even before we were together he was presuming to tell me how I felt."

"He really hurt you, didn't he?" Reid asked as Luke turned over onto his side to face him.

"Yeah, he did," Luke said slowly and quietly, shifting closer to the doctor.

"I don't like seeing you like this," Reid said.

Luke smiled a little at Reid. "I know. I'm sorry," Luke said, intertwining his fingers with Reid's. "I guess I had twenty years of pent up feelings about Noah and seeing him again, in his shiny, heterosexual life, brought them all up to the surface."

"Will you be okay with Julie dating Jacob? I mean what if they get married?" Reid asked.

"Whoa! Marriage? Really, Reid? Let them get through a month first!" Luke said, genuinely smiling.

"I'm just saying," Reid said, laughing. "Suppose they were to last. Would you be alright spending so much time with Noah?"

Luke into Reid's concerned blue eyes for a few minutes. Then he said, "Yeah. I just need to not think about what happened between me and him and how bad our relationship really was."

Reid looked skeptically at Luke.

"I promise," Luke said, kissing Reid.

When they broke apart, Reid said, "Maybe you should talk to Noah. I mean, like, _really_ talk. Have a heart-to-heart."

Luke stared at Reid.

"I know he probably won't be very receptive to the idea. But I think that you should try. It will give you peace of mind. It will give me peace of mind that you have peace of mind," Reid said.

"Have a heart-to-heart about what?"

"What you meant to him. He knows how much he meant to you. But you just told me that you're not sure what you meant to him. And you're not going to be able to be around him if you're constantly wondering what your relationship meant to him."

Luke smiled almost inconspicuously. "If my brilliant brain surgeon thinks I should have a heart-to-heart with my ex-boyfriend than that is what I am going to do," Luke said.

Reid smiled and brushed the palm of his hand across Luke's cheek.

"Go to sleep, Luke. You look exhausted."

Luke nodded and closed his eyes. "I love you, Reid."

"I love you, too."

Luke smiled for real and snuggled closer to the older man, who wrapped his arms around Luke and kissed his forehead.


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning Reid woke up to the sunshine hitting his face. He blinked a couple of times. When his eyes had adjusted to the bright, summer light flowing in through the window, Reid focused his attention on the blonde man lying beside him. The conversation they had had last night had disturbed Reid very much. What was it about Noah that got under Luke's skin so much? Even after twenty years?

Shaking his head slightly in frustration, Reid inched closer to Luke and gently kissed the crook of his exposed neck. Luke stretched his neck and Reid saw a sleepy smile creep onto Luke's lips.

"Morning," Reid said.

"Hi," Luke said, rubbing his eyes and turning onto his back so he could look at the doctor.

"How are you feeling?"

"You mean am I still upset about Noah?" Luke asked, smirking and turning onto his side to face Reid. "No. I'm okay."

"You sure?"

Luke nodded and kissed Reid.

"But I'm still going to talk to him," Luke said when they had broken apart.

"When?"

"Today," Luke said, determined.

"You really think he's going to agree to meet you?" Reid asked skeptically.

"No. That's why I'm going to go to his house. If I show up there he can't deny me," Luke said, giving Reid a dazzlingly evil smile.

"You want me to come with you?"

"No. I need to do this by myself," Luke said, taking one of Reid's hands and playing with his fingers.

Reid nodded in understanding just as his beeper went off. He gave Luke and apologetic look and grabbed the beeper off his nightstand. "It's the hospital. Apparently they're short on doctors," Reid said, with that the tone he reserved especially for when he still felt that Oakdale was a dump.

Luke chuckled and failed miserably at hiding his smile. "You should go," Luke said.

"Whenever you're done talking to Noah, call me or come to Memorial. The whining hypochondriacs can wait while you tell me what happened," Reid said, throwing the covers off as Luke sat up.

"I promise," Luke said, stretching out his neck to receive Reid's kiss.

An hour later, Luke was sitting on a bench in Oakdale Park. He had left Julie a note about where he and Reid were because he had not wanted to wake up the sleeping princess. She became very irritable when her beauty sleep was interrupted.

Luke had really planned on showing up at Noah's house unexpectedly, but thought better of it. Instead, Luke ended up at Oakdale Park. Sitting on the bench, Luke watched the action going on around him, mothers and fathers playing with their children on the playground, lovers walking hand-in-hand on the path. Luke remembered a time when he and Noah had walked hand-in-hand down the path and around the park.

Shaking the memory out of his mind, Luke pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed the number that Alison had given him for Noah's house. Luke put the phone to his ear and heard it ringing. After a couple rings, Luke heard the line picked up.

"Hello?" Luke heard a woman's voice on the other end of the line.

"Megan? It's Luke Oliver-Snyder."

"Oh, Luke! Hi," Megan said happily.

"I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful night last night," Luke said.

"You're very welcome. You really didn't have to call," Megan said.

"Actually, I had an ulterior motive. I was wondering if I could talk to Noah. Is he there?"

"Hold on a sec," Megan said and Luke heard her calling for Noah.

"Hello?" Noah asked on the other end of the line.

"Noah. It's Luke. Don't hang up!" Luke said, sensing that Noah was about to shut the phone. "Can you meet me at the park? We need to talk."

There was silence from Noah. After a minute or so, Noah reluctantly said, "Sure. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Thanks," Luke said just as the line went dead.

Exactly ten minutes later – Noah was still as punctual as ever – Luke spotted Noah walking across the park towards the bench on which he sat.

Luke stood up when Noah was two feet away. Noah came to a stand still and simply stared at Luke.

"Thanks for meeting me," Luke said. The tension was so palpable it could be cut with a knife. Noah said nothing.

"Why are you mad at me?" Luke asked, already infuriated with Noah.

"I'm not mad at you," Noah said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Really? Because your body language seems to say otherwise," Luke said, more angrily than he had intended to be at this point in the conversation.

"Why did you want to meet?" Noah asked, his voice a little kinder.

Luke bit his lip in agitation and then said, "I wanted to talk about…us."

"What do you mean 'us'?"

Luke gestured to Noah to sit down on the bench. Noah gave Luke a dirty look, but sat down. Luke sat down next to him, but left space between them. Even sitting on a bench together was awkward now.

"I want to know," Luke started slowly. "I want to know…what…what I was to you."

Noah stared incredulously at Luke. "What do you mean?"

Luke shrugged in frustration. "Well, the last time I saw you, the last time I spoke to you, you were gay. Or so you said. And now I see you and you have a wife and a son. So, I'm really confused. And I'm asking you to clarify what is going on."

Noah was quiet for few a minutes, staring out at the activities of the park as Luke had been doing.

Finally, Noah said, "Do you remember when you and me were like them?" He indicated a young couple in love, sitting on the grass, holding hands and laughing together.

Luke followed Noah's gaze and said, "Yeah, I do."

"When I got my sight back I wanted to get back together with you," Noah said slowly. Luke looked at him. "That's why I was coming to your house. To tell you I could see and that I wanted to start over. But then…" Noah trailed off.

"But even if I hadn't been kissing Reid, we couldn't have gone back to the way things had been," Luke said. "Too much had happened."

"But we could have started new. Found a way to work past everything that had happened and everything I had said to you." Noah was still watching the couple across the grass.

"Maybe," Luke acquiesced, but he sounded doubtful.

"Watching you with Reid really hurt me," Noah said. He had not yet looked at Luke.

"I know," Luke said quietly. "You've told me this, Noah."

"I know. But you wanted an answer and I'm giving it to you," Noah said, harshly. He sighed and closed his eyes in an attempt to calm down. "You'd given up on me. And that really, _really_ hurt," Noah said, looking at Luke for the first time.

"No, I didn't," Luke said.

"You said that, but I could see that you had. I knew you were saying you wanted to get back with me because you were afraid of the feelings you had for Reid."

Luke was silent. He couldn't argue with the truth.

"I also knew that it was my fault. I pushed you away when I was blind. You had every right to move on," Noah said.

Luke looked at Noah, shocked. It was the first time he had ever heard Noah take responsibility for what had happened between them.

"So I let you be," Noah said, once again looking out at the park.

"Do you love her, Noah?" Luke asked bluntly. "Megan?"

"Yeah," Noah said sincerely.

"I mean, _really_ love her? Would you be devastated if she stopped loving you the way I did?" Luke asked.

Noah nodded. "I can't imagine my life without her."

"Did you love me the way you love her?" Luke asked quietly, Noah's words sending a shooting pain through the part of his heart that still loved the man sitting next to him. While Noah's confessions had been enlightening, Luke still had not gotten the answers he sought.

Noah was silent.

"So that's a no then," Luke said, choking back tears he didn't want to shed in front of Noah.

"I would have spent my life with you, Luke," Noah said.

"Yeah. But would you have been happy?"

"Yes," Noah said honestly.

"But you would have always been looking for something else," Luke said. "You would always have been wondering if there was something more, something better."

"I did love you, Luke," Noah said, looking at Luke.

"I know," Luke said, nodding his head. "You just weren't _in love_ with me. At least not the way I was with you."

"I was in love with you, Luke," Noah said.

"And now you're in love with a woman," Luke said.

Noah nodded.

"What does that mean, Noah? Was I an experiment?"

"No," Noah said emphatically. "You were my first real love."

"Then how did you end up in love with Megan?"

"I don't know. It just happened. How did I end up in love with you? How did you end up in love with Reid? How does anyone end up in love with anyone?"

"That's not what I mean," Luke said. "If you were in love with me, that meant – at least when we were together – that you were gay. And if that's the case, how are you in love with a woman?"

Noah was silent, just staring at Luke. After a minute he said, "I guess…I guess I never thought about it."

"Well, I'm asking you now, Noah," Luke said. "Does it feel the same when you kiss her as it did when you kissed me?"

"No," Noah answered immediately. "It's different." Luke could see that Noah was realizing this for the first time.

"Different how?" Luke asked. He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear Noah say it, no matter how much he knew it would hurt. "Please be honest, Noah. This is why I wanted to talk. I need closure."

Noah watched the couple on the grass across the path. The young man was now on his knee proposing. The woman squealed and pounced on him, landing on top of him as he fell backwards onto the grass.

"It's…better." Luke closed his eyes, his suspicions confirmed. "The world disappears when I kiss her."

"Thank you, Noah," Luke said, standing up.

Noah looked up at the blonde-haired man. "You're leaving?"

"Yes. I got what I wanted. I wanted to know what I meant to you. And you just told me. The world didn't disappear when you kissed me. That means you weren't in love with me. Not in any way that counted. That's all I needed to know. So, thank you. I hope we can try again to be friends. At least for Julie's and Jacob's sakes," Luke said, holding out his hand.

Noah stood up, confused. He looked at Luke sadly. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Noah," Luke said.

Noah continued to look at Luke with sadness in his eyes. But he shook Luke's hand.

Luke quickly let go of Noah's hand and said, "I'll see you around, Noah. Especially if our kids stay together."

Noah nodded.

Luke smiled sadly at Noah, turned around, and walked out of the park.


	18. Chapter 18

Luke hurriedly walked away from Noah. As soon as he was in the car, he let fall the tears he had not wanted Noah to see. He had not known just how hard it would hit him to have his suspicions confirmed. Two and a half years he had wasted on someone who had never truly loved him. After letting the tears fall thick and fast, it took Luke a good ten minutes until he could catch his breath and was calm enough to drive.

When he had regained composure, Luke pulled out of the park's parking lot and drove back towards home. Remembering his promise to Reid, and desperately wanting the comfort of his husband, Luke headed the car towards Oakdale Memorial. In ten minutes, Luke was pulling into the hospital parking lot and was in the elevator on his way up to the neurology wing he had built with Reid so long ago.

When the elevator opened onto the floor, Luke stepped out and made his way to the nurses' station.

"Hello, Luke," the nurse at the desk said. They all knew Luke at the hospital, some because he was on the Board of Trustees and a donor, mostly because he was Dr. Oliver's partner.

"Hi, Jane," Luke said, smiling despite that fact that he didn't feel happy. "Is he around?"

"He should be in his office."

"Thanks," Luke said and headed off to find Reid.

A few steps down the corridor and Luke was grateful to see that Reid's office door was open, which meant that he wasn't busy. Luke hurried the rest of the way down the hallway and nearly skidded to a halt in front of Reid's doorway. But his heart sank when he saw Reid wasn't there. On the verge of tears again, Luke dragged himself into the office and plopped down on the couch. Emotionally exhausted, Luke pressed the base of his hands against his eyelids until bright spots popped up in front of him.

"Luke?" Reid's voice said.

Luke had not heard him enter the room, but he snapped his head up at the doctor's voice. Gasping in relief, Luke jumped off the couch and quickly made his way across the room to the older man. As soon he was within reach, Luke threw his arms around Reid's neck and clung onto him as if there was no tomorrow.

Though he was confused, Reid nevertheless wrapped his arms around Luke's waist and pulled him closer, sensing that Luke needed a very big hug at the moment. After a few seconds, Luke buried his face in the crook of Reid's neck.

"Are you alright?" Reid asked, incredibly concerned. Reid felt Luke shake his head against his neck.

Furrowing his brow, Reid skillfully kicked the door shut behind him with his foot, while remaining embraced with Luke.

"You want to tell me what's wrong?" Reid asked, pulling away only enough so he could look at Luke.

"I talked to Noah," Luke said hoarsely.

Reid's eyes widened in understanding. He had completely forgotten Luke's plan for the day. He dropped his arms from Luke's waist, but slid his hands around Luke's and pulled him over to the couch.

"You've been crying," Reid said, brushing his hand across Luke's cheek. Luke closed his eyes at the doctor's touch and nodded briefly.

"What happened?" Reid asked.

"Noah never loved me the way I loved him," Luke said flatly.

"You knew that," Reid said gently.

"I know. But Noah confirmed it," Luke said, dropping his forehead onto Reid's shoulder.

"What did he say?" Reid asked, draping his arm around Luke's shoulders and pulling him closer.

"That when he kisses Megan the world disappears and when he kissed me, it didn't," Luke mumbled into Reid's scrubs.

Reid furrowed his brow and kissed the top of Luke's head.

"This is really upsetting for you, isn't it?"

"Of course, Reid!" Luke nearly shouted, snapping his head off of the doctor's shoulder and looking at him. "I wasted two and half years of my life on someone who didn't really love me! I bent over backwards doing everything in my power trying to make him happy and it was all for nothing!" Luke was getting hysterical.

"And if you hadn't, we wouldn't have met!" Reid said emphatically, almost angrily.

Luke's eyes widened in surprise at both Reid's tone and his statement. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Instead he sat staring at the doctor, wide-eyed and with his mouth hanging slightly open.

After a minute, Luke quietly said, "You're right. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Reid said softly.

"No it's not," Luke said, shaking his head. "I let Noah get to me again."

"I didn't expect you not to," Reid said, smiling slightly. "That's why I told you to come find me after you were done talking to him."

Luke smiled at the older man. "You know me so well."

"Of course."

"Thank you," Luke said.

"For what?"

"Loving me," Luke said.

"How could I not?" Reid said.

"Noah found a way."

"I'm not Noah."

"No. You're not," Luke said, running his fingers through Reid's curls.

"I'm going to tell Jane to take me off rounds," Reid said, standing up.

"What?" Luke asked, grabbing Reid's hand.

"I'm not leaving you alone," Reid said.

"I'm alright," Luke said, standing up.

"I don't care. I'm taking you home and I'm staying there. Today was supposed to be my day off anyway. Doogie can finish the shift," Reid said.

"Are you sure?" Luke asked.

"Yes," Reid said, taking Luke's face in his hands and kissing him.

When they broke apart, Luke smiled sadly at Reid and once again wrapped his arms around the doctor's neck, embracing him tightly.

"Just so you know," Reid whispered into Luke's ear, "the world disappears when we kiss."

Luke smiled against Reid's neck and hugged him tighter.


	19. Six Years Later

Luke and Reid were standing on the front lawn of Oakdale University. It was a beautiful day and they were waiting for Julie to change out of her graduation robes. Noah and Megan were standing across the green, Megan crying slightly.

Luke was watching Noah comfort his wife; Reid was fidgeting, digging his shoes into the grass and checking his watch every thirty seconds.

"Stop fidgeting," Luke reprimanded, grabbing Reid's hand and entwining their fingers together. "She'll be out soon."

"I'm hungry," Reid whined.

"Baby," Luke mumbled, but he smiled.

"Hi," Julie said, bounding up to Luke and Reid. Luke watched Jacob greet his parents on the other side of the lawn.

"Congratulations, baby," Luke said, enveloping Julie in a hug.

"Thanks, Dad," Julie said, returning the embrace.

Reid, in turn, hugged his daughter. When they broke apart, they found Jacob, Noah, and Megan walking towards them.

"Hi," Jacob said, draping his arm over Julie's shoulders.

"Hello, Megan, Noah," Luke said cordially. Even after six years, things had remained tense between the two ex-boyfriends, though they had recently been attempting to work their way back to being comfortable around each other again.

Noah nodded in greeting, while Megan said, "Hello, boys."

"Mom, Dad," Jacob said.

"Dad, Daddy," Julie said. "We have something to tell you." She was smiling very broadly.

"You do?" Reid and Noah asked simultaneously.

"We're engaged!" Julie squealed loudly, waving her left hand in the air.

The four adults gaped at the two graduates.

"You're – you're engaged?" Luke stuttered.

Julie squealed again and nodded furiously, Jacob grinning from ear-to-ear.

"When did this happen?" Noah asked, exchanging a glance with Luke.

"Just now. After graduation," Julie answered excitedly, practically jumping up and down.

"I see," Reid said, his voice at the octave is was so long ago when Abigail thought he was Noah.

The adults fell back into silence, all shocked, while Julie and Jacob beamed at them. Luke broke the silence first.

"That's wonderful, Julie!" Luke said, releasing Reid's hand and once again hugging his daughter.

"Thank you!"

Megan was next to congratulate the kids. She hugged her son and then Julie. Reid next embraced Julie. Noah was last, and seemingly reluctant, to accept the engagement.

"We're going to go tell our friends!" Julie said, grabbing Jacob's hand and leading him away from their parents.

"I'm going to call Ameera," Megan said. Luke flinched slightly at the name. "She'll be excited to hear Jacob's getting married." She kissed Noah briefly and walked away, pulling her cell phone out of her purse.

A second later, Reid jumped a little as his cell phone buzzed against his leg. "It's Katie," Reid said, seeing her number on his caller ID. He squeezed Luke's hand and walked a few feet away to talk to his friend.

Luke and Noah stood together awkwardly for a few minutes before Luke said, "So…engaged."

"Yep," Noah responded.

"Look, Noah, I don't want things to be awkward between us," Luke said. "They're getting married. We're going to be spending time together."

Noah nodded. "This isn't exactly how I pictured us spending our lives together."

Luke laughed. "No, definitely not. But that doesn't mean it's any less meaningful. Maybe this was always how it was supposed to end," Luke said, sadly.

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe we were never meant to spend our lives together. Not as lovers. Simply as friends and in-laws."

Noah smiled slightly and nodded. "Maybe."

"So, do you think we can try and leave the tension in the past? Start fresh?" Luke asked.

"Sure," Noah responded, as Reid and Megan walked back over to Luke and Noah.

"The kids are going to the mall to celebrate," Megan said.

Luke nodded in concurrence.

"We should go Noah," Megan said.

"Bye," Noah said, following his wife out to the parking lot.

"You okay?" Reid asked, turning to Luke.

"Of course," Luke said, smiling. "Why wouldn't I be? My daughter is engaged to the son of my first love who finds it very difficult to be in the same room with me. Who wouldn't be okay with that?"

Reid laughed. "This should be interesting."

"It will most definitely be interesting."

They smiled at each other and walked out of the chaos of the post-graduation, hand-in-hand.


End file.
